Chapter 36 Slaughter
Chapter 36 Slaughter
"I fear none of you will last long for what I'm about to do to you," Warden said, landing before Hisam and Kelsa, removing his veil. "Though I'll make sure you feel every bit of it."
"Huh?" Hisam yelled. "And who the hell do you think you—"
Warden didn't let him finish. He clutched the arm that was groping the woman and set her free. Kelsa ran away, tears streaming down her eyes.
"Let go, you sick bastard," Hisam, the bandit, screamed.
Warden's eyes narrowed at him, and a malevolent purple glow spilled out of his eyes, scaring the bandit, who couldn't move a muscle. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"I'm your end," he said.
The next moment, Hisam's skin began to tear apart, starting from his wrist where Warden clutched to his fingers, shoulders, chest, lower body, legs, and face, all torn up as if unable to contain the pressure within itself. The bandit screamed, but even that was put to rest as his tongue exploded unexpectedly.
It didn't even take a second before his veins split apart, his heart failed, and he dropped dead, blood gorging all over his body. Warden let go, a little startled by the effect of void energy.
"You were right," Warden said, turning to the bandits. "He didn't last long."
[Copper-ranked energy harvested.\]
The harvested energy only recovered the energy he had wasted so far but didn't increase any of his attributes, even though Mind was still below 20.
"Warden," Xiv shouted, a bit of liveliness coming back to his face. "These bandits... They..."
"Sorry, I took a while," Warden said, sighing. "You're safe now."
Warden's cloak was still pristine white, none of it stained with blood. Coupled with the display of how he killed the fellow, the rest of the bandits were already glancing at each other, unsure of what to do. According to their information, the adventurers had already left.
"Sir?" the bandit chief asked, "Who are you?"
"Didn't you hear?" Warden said. "Your end."
"Sir, please," the chief tried. The gesture he made with his palms didn't go unnoticed by Warden's eyes. "Can we talk first? I'm sure we can come to a resolution through—"
Warden didn't wait ceremoniously at the bandit's empty words. His figure blurred as he dashed towards the two bandits on the way to capture Xiv and others as hostages. Obviously, Warden's speed was easily beyond their imagination when he lashed energy against the earth.
He didn't give them a chance to explain or withdraw. He swung his fist, infusing an appropriate amount of void energy. The first connected as the head exploded in a splatter of blood and gore. The woman didn't even have time to be terrified, as the next swing came for her, putting a hole through her chest.
[Copper ranked energy harvested.]
The spectators gasped, taking a step back involuntarily. Obviously, they figured they wouldn't get out of this conflict in one piece. So, they drew their weapons—swords, daggers, maces, axes—everyone ready with their instruments.
"Don't make me draw my blade," Warden said.
The fat bandit leader charged at him, a huge axe in hand. He wasn't fast, but he wasn't merely a useless weight on the earth either. With each step, the ground trembled, the impact leaving a deep print on the ground.
He swung the axe at him at full power, but Warden simply took a step back. The axe impacted on the ground, splitting the earth in a large tear. A couple of knives stuck in his armour, but the defence of the legendary-grade armour was beyond reproach. The dagger dropped to the ground, not even leaving a dent.
Warden deduced that the chief was easily iron-ranked and had some ability to increase his weight. The bandit continued to swing as Warden dodged effortlessly, his eyes moving towards the others, who seemed to forget their boss and fled.
Warden snorted. As if he would let them. For the first time after awakening, someone had angered him. The very act they were ready to engage in sickened him. Anything less than their death would be unjust.
Without further ado, he drew [The Divider]. The fat bandit's speed and intensity seemed to be rising with each swing, with some berserk power, but before it could reach a level where he could challenge Warden, he took care of it.
Once the axe landed on the ground, Warden stood atop it. His blade flashed to behead the man in one clean sweep. The fat bandit had power, but no finesse.
[Iron Grade energy harvested.]
[0.4 Strength.]
He shot from there towards the bandits that were fleeing. [Reaper's Edge] increased the reach of the blade as he reached the proximity of the last running members. They didn't even see it coming as the blade divided them, one after another.
To Xiv and others, all of it happened in a blur. One moment they were at a severe disadvantage, the next Warden came in and began slaughtering the bandits. He had brought down their numbers to barely four. Not that they would be a challenge after the death of their chief.
"Someone save me!" a woman screamed, causing Warden to shift his eyes from the bandit he killed to where it came from.
It was the woman he rescued just a moment ago, but now another man caught her, a knife drawn to her neck. It was the bandit called Tifan, the same one who sneaked up on Xiv. "Don't take a step forward," Tifan screamed, sweat dripping down his face. "If you do, I'll--" "Yeah, I know what you're capable of," Warden said. The other bandit that was running, stopped, and was still within his reach, so Warden didn't let go of his chance. He increased the reach of the blade and beheaded him as well. "Goddamn it," Tifan screamed, almost losing his mind. The dagger drew a line of blood from Kelsa's neck, though that was Tifan's arm working involuntarily. "Curse you, bastard." "You said not to take a step," Warden said, narrowing his eyes. "I didn't."